arun: "That's just good manners from Rohit Sharma to have given Kochi a life in return for what Sachin got." Munaf Patel from the other end, keeper standing up

anirudh: "Sachin's 4+ overs assault and Malinga's 4 overs assault..8 overs are already taken care of even before the match :P what a team MI!"

1.1

Patel to McCullum,
1 leg bye,
rolls away off the pads behind square as he misses the flick to one on the pads

1.2

Patel to Jayawardene,
no run,
Munaf tight as ever on a length around off, Mahela plays it away on the leg side

Kaustubh: "I have been screaming at them to step down to Malinga. Bazz did it for me. I mean waiting in the crease and letting him ruin your toes doesn't make any sense. Well done Brendon! Get him out of his comfort zone man!"

1.3

Patel to Jayawardene,
1 leg bye,
looks to paddle one on off stump behind square, does not connect cleanly

1.4

Patel to McCullum,
no run,
Baz swings on one leg for the big forcing pull, but misses the shortish skiddy one

1.5

Patel to McCullum,
no run,
caught in the crease with the keeper close to him, pushes a length ball towards covers

1.6

Patel to McCullum,
1 run,
Sachin runs to his left at mid off and dives to stop a drive from Baz, to the delight of the crowd

amit: "Now that we have returned the two favors to Kochi, can we start catching some balls?"

jeevan: "When is Sachin going to learn that Munaf is a rhythm bowler. IF he is doing good, give him his 3-4 overs as soon as you can. He doesnt have any special skills, if the line and length are working..bowl him through."

satyam: "Waiting to see Bhajji and Symmo bowling in tandem."

6.1

Murtaza to McCullum,
no run,
goes straight on outside off, he pushes for the turn, and gets an inside edge on to pad

6.2

Murtaza to McCullum,
1 run,
down the track and pushes it away down to long off

6.3

Murtaza to Jayawardene,
no run,
pushed close to the wicket on the leg side, Mahela takes off for the run, Davy charges after the ball, and Mahela has to rush back

6.4

Murtaza to Jayawardene,
FOUR,
shuffles outside off and sweeps the full one backward of square to the boundary

Pollard has gone for 43 in three overs. Wonder why Sachin has not turned to Rohit. Davy is standing up to Malinga, I can't believe this

17.1

Malinga to McCullum,
OUT,
Baz has given it away, bends one knee and goes down outside off looking for the scoop over short fine leg, misses the full delivery, and has the leg stump knocked back, huge wicket for Mumbai

BB McCullum b Malinga 81 (60b 10x4 2x6) SR: 135.00

Hodge comes in now

17.2

Malinga to Hodge,
no run,
goes for the yorker, Hodge pushes the full delivery towards Sachin at extra cover

17.3

Malinga to Hodge,
no run,
gets the yorker right on target, he cannot do anything with it, dug out towards extra cover

17.4

Malinga to Hodge,
FOUR,
Hodge backs away and gets this one away, full on the stumps and he squeezes it past a diving point

17.5

Malinga to Hodge,
no run,
another one in the blockhole, lovely delivery, Hodge digs it out to Pollard at midwicket

17.6

Malinga to Hodge,
FOUR,
Hodge gets this one away, eight off the Malinga over, Kochi will take it, full on the stumps and he rocks back and swings it past the bowler, beats long on in the end

Murtaza to Jadeja,
FOUR,
Pollard at long off comes rushing to his left, Jadeja had mowed it down the ground from outside off, long on had it covered, but Pollard came in his way and parried it to the boundary

18.2

Murtaza to Jadeja,
1 run,
goes for the big one, this is fuller, and Jadeja lofts it straight back ,Pollard leaps in the air and stops the six with one hand, comes down while parrying the ball in, what an effort

18.3

Murtaza to Hodge,
2 runs,
down the track and swings a flat one wide of sweeper cover, they come haring back for the second, and just make it

18.4

Murtaza to Hodge,
1 run,
another charge from Hodge, gets the inside edge in front of square

18.5

Murtaza to Jadeja,
SIX,
Ravindra Jadeja gets a full toss and murders it high over the deep midwicket boundary, Kochi are closing in now

18.6

Murtaza to Jadeja,
SIX,
it is Jadeja who finishes it for Kochi, gets one more low full toss and scythes it over wide long on, roars and roars as the ball disappears beyond the boundary, Sachin watches the ball go helplessly

Phew. That was some game. That will be all from me, Abhishek Purohit, for the moment. Sid Ravi will make sense of this match in his bulletin, which you can read. Till the next game tomorrow, bye.

Er, Brendon McCullum is the Man of the Match. Brendon: "It was a big chase, we were hopeful it would skid on with a bit of dew. This is the way I play, always instinctively, some times it comes off, sometimes it does not. I had Mahela for company today who batted well. The pitch was good to bat on."

Mahela Jayawardene: "We needed this. We have been playing well. We needed to finish off these matches. Fantastic knock from Sachin but we knew it was chaseable if we batted sensibly and Brendon played brilliantly. Whenever we wanted to accelerate we did so against certain bowlers. We can improve in certain areas, we will keep working hard. We are excited about the players we have. [On Murali missing out] It is a good combination we have got, we will see the combination and conditions."

Sachin Tendulkar: "I thought we had enough to defend, but McCullum and Mahela batted well. The dew was always going to be there but I do not want to give excuses. They deserved to win. I don't think I could have done any different with my bowlers, we could have fielded well, taken those catches. I thought they fielded better than us, we could not match up. [On his fitness] I am ok to go for another 40 overs."

Hang around for the presentation.

Ravindra Jadeja: "We had lost the first two games and this was a close one as well, I was trying to play as straight as possible. I was trying to play the big shots whenever I got the opportunity, We did not want to give a wicket to Malinga, even if we could not get the runs off him. Mahela and Brendon had taken it so close, we wanted to finish it off and generate some momentum."

Mahela Jayawardene is smiling widely, what a chase from Kochi. Sachin's maiden T20 hundred in vain, maybe he could have tried Rohit, given that Pollard was being thrashed anyway. Maybe that would not have made a difference, Mahela and Brendon set it up with a 128-run opening stand, Malinga went for many today, and there is the case that Mumbai are too dependent on him for the wickets. Jadeja finished it with two big hits, coming in a pressure situation.

Abhijit Menon: "Everytime Tendulkar scores a ton these days, The Team loses the game. " They tied the England game during the World Cup, no?

Deepak: "Its a Perfect VISHU gift for all Keralites. Beating the might of Sachin's Devils in their own backyard is some achievement. It proves, Kochi is no run-over and can give sleepless nights to others. Whoz Next!!"

Rahul: "Mumbai are too dependent of Malinga. They have 5 games after May 5, the day SL are recalling their players, one of them being Malinga. This is bad news for Mumbai. They need to find a good replacement and soon."

srik: "This shows why Ravindra Jadeja is such a awesome player. He should get 1 more chance in the national T20 squad."

Balu: "Its funny that Mahela hit century and his team lost with match ending with SIX by Dhoni, Today Sachin hit century and his team lost and match ended with SIX."

Teja: "Why people talk only about Ravindra Jadeja and forget about the knock played by Mr. McC? Runs on the board, away game, Facing slingas, not an easy task to anchor the innings and score 81. Take a bow, Baz!!"

Boris: "Sachin's batting today was awesome, but in all fairness, I thought his captaincy was rather ordinary today. In particular, the way he managed and used his bowling options wasn't impressive. Rohit and Symonds were brushed aside despite the others getting hammered, a significant error that could well have turned the game."